Chapter 3
Macie stretched, feeling better than she had in a long time. Her muscles still ached, but the painful, bone-deep exhaustion that had been her constant companion even before Kyle’s birth was…!
“Kyle!” she gasped, sitting up and looking around for her infant son. Both hands moved to her breasts, which ached as they filled with milk.
“He’s right here,” a male voice announced. “You’re safe and Kyle is hale and hearty.”
Macie looked around and found Edward sitting on the floor with Kyle in his lap. There were several toys scattered around, some of which Macie recognized and others which were unfamiliar.
“How do you feel?”
Macie lifted her eyes, her mouth falling open as she watched Edward pick up another toy, a strange orange and zebra-striped ring, which Kyle proceeded to stuff as much of as possible into his tiny mouth.
“Um…!” How did she feel? “Better. Thank you.”
“Good.Are you hungry?”
Her stomach growled in reply and she rolled her eyes. “Yes, but…I need to feed Kyle,” she told him.
“I made a bottle for him about an hour ago and he drank the whole thing.” Edward patted Kyle’s round tummy. “He’s full.”
“Great,” Macie groaned, then felt the wetness on her front. Damn it, she was leaking! “Darn it!” she grumbled, looking around for a solution. Her “milk maid” bag, the breast pump she’d bought specifically for this purpose, was back home, most likely a lump of melted plastic now.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Where’s a bathroom?” she asked, her voice a bit panicked now.
Edward pointed to the opposite end of the massive room. “Down that hallway to the right.”
Macie jumped up and hurried in the direction he’d pointed, praying that he didn’t notice the wet circles on her old, ragged tee-shirt. Thankfully, the cargo jacket she’d found at a thrift store hid her leaking breasts.
Edward watched as Macie hurried out of the room. She’d only slept for four hours. Surely she needed another eight or ten hours to fully recover from whatever she’d gone through. She still looked tired, but maybe she just needed a bathroom and something to eat.
“Do you think we should get your momma some food?” he asked the baby.
Kyle bounced his hands in the air and giggled. “I think you’re right. A grilled cheese sandwich is exactly what she needs.”
Edward stood up, cradling the infant in his arms. It had taken only fifteen minutes for him to fall in love with this little man. He was adorable! And so easy! He’d always thought taking care of babies was difficult, but he truly enjoyed sitting on the floor, handing his son various toys and observing Kyle’s fascination. There was something profound about a baby’s happiness and curiosity, he thought as he held Kyle in one arm and searched through the massive fridge to find the ingredients for a grilled cheese sandwich, which was about all he knew how to make.
“Edward?” Macie called out.
“We’re in here!” he yelled back, grabbing cheddar cheese and a round of sourdough bread. He also needed butter, but his hands were full with Kyle. He looked around, not sure where to put his son while he cooked.
“Okay, all of those complaints from stay at home moms is starting to make sense,” Edward told Kyle softly.
“Good grief, you have an enormous house,” Macie commented when she stepped into the room. Then she noticed the massive kitchen. “Wow! I bet you could cook up just about anything in here!”
Edward was still holding Kyle, the bread, and the cheese. He wasn’t sure what to say. “I don’t actually know how to cook many things,” he admitted. “I was going to make you a sandwich, which is the extent of my culinary capabilities.”
As he watched, she finally looked at him, then blushed. Had she been avoiding his eyes? Yep! Interesting!
“What’s going on, Macie?” he asked, setting the cheese and bread down on the granite countertop, then turning to look at her. “Why are you here? Why now?”
Macie froze, staring up at him. After a long moment, she looked around again, but he got the sense that she wasn’t really looking at the kitchen. She was looking at something else. Something in her head.
Kyle saved the day by letting out an impatient squawk, then holding out his hands, demanding that Macie hold him.
She moved closer and Edward could smell the sweet, feminine scent of her. And the exhaustion.
“I just…I need a place to hide out for a bit. If you don’t want me here, then Kyle and I can keep going. I have other friends. And friends of friends. I know how to hide and can stay hidden for a long time.”
“Why do you need to hide? And who are you hiding from?”
Macie took Kyle, carrying him over to the counter where tall stools were pushed under the granite countertop. She pulled one out and sat down, placing Kyle’s tiny butt on the counter in front of her and taking his hands, encouraging him to balance.
“I’m fine,” she replied.
Impatiently, Edward huffed and frowned at her, bracing his hands on the countertop as he watched her. “Obviously, you’re perfectly fine. You traveled almost fifty-five hundred miles just to prove that you’re okay. You arrive on my doorstep at the crack of dawn, panicking and rushing through the door in a pathetic disguise, because you are fine.”
Macie laughed at his summary of the situation. Taking a deep breath, she focused on Kyle as she steeled herself to explain. “Did you know that your airline is shipping illegal weapons to Africa, Romania, and Indonesia?”
She smiled at Kyle as he wobbled slightly, but her strong, little guy held steady.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Macie shrugged, still not looking at Edward. “I saw the weapons. I memorized the numbers of the ten crates that were stored in the New Jersey warehouse. That crate was loaded onto one of your Linx airplanes heading to Nigeria.” She let Kyle cling to her thumbs, helping him to balance.
“We have seven planes heading to Nigeria today. What the hell are you talking about? None of the cargo includes arms shipments.”
Macie finally looked directly into his eyes. Was he telling the truth? Her gut whispered that Edward was a good, honest man. She knew his net worth and knew that he didn’t need the additional income from an illegal arms shipment.
But her house had been broken into, her car tires slashed, and now her house burned down. All because she’d looked at the wrong numbers and opened the wrong crate at the wrong moment. Now her infant son was in danger and that wasn’t something she could allow.
“Are you sure ?” she asked softly.
Edward sighed and leaned in. “Macie, there are no arms shipments. We would never allow it. My partners and I don’t advocate for violence. Just the opposite. In fact, one of the planes heading to Nigeria is filled with vaccines, food, and tablets to help clean water for rural villages. It’s our way of helping the world. We wouldn’t involve ourselves in arms shipments. It’s antithetical to our mission.”
She stared at him again, looking deep into his brown eyes. Something there, a flash or some odd bit of assurance, told her that he was telling her the truth.
“Admit it,” he coaxed. “If you thought I was corrupt, you wouldn’t have come here to hide.”
Pulling her eyes away from Edward, she beamed at her son, who gurgled happily back at her. “So, should we tell him?” she asked in a singsong voice. “Should we tell him that someone in his organization is sending weapons to third world war lords?” She leaned closer. “Or should we keep it a secret?”
Kyle smiled his gummy smile, then smacked his tiny hand against her nose.
“I agree. Let’s keep it a secret.”
“Macie!” he snapped. “What the hell are you saying?”
Macie looked over at the loaf of bread and cheese, her stomach growling. “Would you mind if I cut some of that and had a sandwich? I really am hungry.”
“Macie,” he growled.
She held up a hand, stopping his protest. “I promise to explain everything to you as I eat. I don’t know exactly what time it is, but I haven’t eaten anything since about five hours before I flew out of Philadelphia International Airport and I’m famished.”
Edward didn’t stop his glare, but he reached out for the loaf of bread. Quickly, he tore off a piece and handed it to her, then walked over to one of the cabinets and pulled out a cutting board. “Okay, you’re eating. Now explain.”
He started slicing the sourdough into thick slices. Then he grabbed the block of sharp cheddar and started slicing that as well.
“I wrote the program, Edward,” she explained, waving Kyle’s hands in the air. “I know exactly what the products weigh in order to balance the plane and fill it up so that we can calculate the exact amount of fuel needed. I calculate wind velocity, jet stream, air currents, fuel weight, cargo weight, and every other factor that helps get your cargo planes to their destination.”
She sighed and kissed Kyle’s nose, making him laugh. She smiled when Kyle leaned forward and…he didn’t know how to kiss yet, but he wrapped his tiny mouth around her nose, further embedding this adorable man in her heart.
“So, you’re saying that you found some anomalies in the cargo shipments. You didn’t think that your calculations could be off?”
Macie looked up at him. “Before working for you, I created a computer program that handled the resources for massive events, planned with dozens of vendors on timetables that required schedules down to the minute. When you hired me, you gave me similar requirements. When I finished the program a year ago, you and your executive team challenged me on every aspect of my computer algorithms. We went out to the warehouse and every one of you challenged me on what each crate weighed and the space it would need in the plane.” She tilted her head to the side, pulling Kyle closer as she watched Edward slice up the cheese. “I know what my computer program can do because I programmed it specifically for your planes.”
“And you know that there were illegal arms shipments smuggled onto the flights because…?”
“Because I know exactly how much every piece of cargo weighs, right down to the fraction of a gram, Edward.”
He turned to the fridge. It took him a moment to locate the butter, but he finally found it and plunked the entire stick into the microwave to melt.
While waiting for the butter to soften, he turned and looked at her, crossing his arms over his chest. “What about the available fuel? It doesn’t always weigh the same amount. We buy fuel from various sources. Fuel has different weights. Hell, it even weighs differently when it’s cold or hot.”
She looked at him with derision. “Edward, I require every piece of cargo to list the packing supplies, the number of pieces of each product shipped. My system calculates the weight of every box, crate, and container down to the gram. The scanner system you bought creates a Jenga like system for packing every one of your planes down to the millimeter.” She paused, letting her words sink in for a moment as Edward layered cheese onto the buttered slices of bread. “Do you honestly think I wouldn’t have calculated the various weight probabilities for every process of fuel manufacturing?” She snorted, shaking her head. “That was the easy part.”
He paused, glancing at her with a chuckle. “Right.”
“Besides, as I mentioned, I went to the warehouse and saw the weapons.” She kissed Kyle’s cheek. “Three weeks ago, one of your planes shipped two crates of rifles and thirteen crates of ammunition to Nigeria.” She reached out and snatched a slice of cheese, nibbling on it while still helping Kyle to balance on the countertop. “A week after that, I noticed another aberration in the weight calculations and went to the warehouse. After looking through the various crates, I came across a shipment of surface to air missiles and launchers.”
The knife clattered to the counter. “Are you kidding me?”
She took another slice of cheese. “Nope,” she replied. “And that’s probably why my house burned down two days ago. And why I decided to come to you so that you can fix this.”
Edward froze. “Your house was burned down? You weren’t kidding about that?”
She shook her head. “Nope,” she confirmed. “Nor am I joking about my tires being slashed. It cost me over a thousand dollars to have them replaced. Plus, I had to sit in the tire shop lobby with a very cranky baby.” She paused to kiss Kyle again.
“How did you get out of the house?” He eyed Kyle. “Both of you look okay. Were either of you hurt?”
She smiled gently at Kyle, then rubbed her cheek against his fuzzy head. “Kyle was a bit cranky that night,” she admitted. “But I read online that riding in a car soothes babies to sleep. And Kyle, thankfully, loves car rides. Plus, at night, with the street lights soothing him, he falls asleep in about ten minutes.” She rubbed his back, more to soothe herself than Kyle. “Kyle saved our lives that night.”
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”
“Because the police were already there. I’d just parked on the side of the road before heading into the driveway when the fire broke out. I saw two men running away from the barn. Two men in black clothing paused by a police cruiser where two officers were leaning against their vehicles. The men in black handed the officers something, then everyone drove away. I sat in my car, thankfully with the headlights turned off, and watched my home burn to the ground. It took the fire department more than a half hour to arrive, even though the fire station is less than two miles from my house.”
Edward moved around the counter to wrap his arms around Macie and Kyle. “I’m sorry, Macie,” he groaned. “I had no idea all of this was happening. I…!”
He didn’t know what to say. He, Sean, and Antonio were the owners of Linx Airlines. It was their responsibility to know what was going on within their companies. But this…illegal arms shipments…that was some heavy stuff.
“I’ll fix this,” he vowed. “I’ll rebuild your home and your barn. I’ll replace every single thing you lost, Macie!” But where would he rebuild? With his arms still around her, Edward looked around at his ancestral home. He’d like for her to rebuild her life here, with him. He wanted Kyle close by, and now that he had Macie in his arms again, he had to admit, if only to himself, that he’d missed her. They’d had one weekend together, three passionate days and nights. He’d held her in his arms for such a short time, and yet, seeing her now, he knew that he wanted more.
Pulling away from her, he cleared his throat and moved back to the stove. He couldn’t have more, Edward reminded himself. Taking the slices of cheese and buttered bread, he added the sandwich to the hot pan, hearing the sizzle as the butter melded into the sourdough bread.
He stared at the pan, but his attention wasn’t on the cooking process. He was thinking about his parents, about the misery that they heaped on each other every day of their married life.
Edward didn’t know how to be married. He didn’t know how to treat someone in his life for a long period of time. He’d grown tired, bored, and impatient with his past lovers fairly quickly, and then had moved on.
But maybe that wouldn’t happen with Macie! Maybe things could be different. And maybe he could learn…?
Or, maybe he’d fail. And then he’d never see Macie’s glorious smile or those sparkling green eyes again. Maybe he’d crush her spirit with his harsh words.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Edward turned, glancing at her over his shoulder. “Fine,” he replied.
Macie paused and nodded towards the stove. “Maybe you could flip that sandwich?”
He looked down at the pan. Sure enough, the sandwich was ready to be turned. With deft movements, he flipped it over, noting that the other side was almost too far gone. It was a bit crispier than usual, but it wasn’t burned.
“Sorry,” he told her, not looking in her direction.
Marriage to Macie. He contemplated the notion. The concept had never occurred to him before now because of his experience watching his parents. But could he…?
He’d thought about her a lot over the past year. He’d dreamt about her. He’d compared every woman against her smiles and her vibrant personality…and all had come up lacking.
He wanted to learn. He’d figured out so many things in his lifetime, why couldn’t he learn to be a good husband? And a good father to Kyle?
Glancing at the pair, seeing the way Macie pretended to clap Kyle’s hands together in some sort of game that only they understood, Edward knew that he wanted to learn. He wanted to be the kind of husband and father that Macie and Kyle deserved. He wanted to be more than just their financial security. He suddenly wanted…every day of their lives!
Muttering a curse, he slid the finished sandwich onto a plate.
“Here you go,” he called out, bringing the almost-perfectly cooked grilled cheese to her, setting it down on the counter. “May I hold Kyle while you eat?”
Macie looked up at him, startled. “Sorry?” She’d just reached for half of the sandwich, tucking Kyle into the crook of her other arm.
Edward chuckled and reached for his son. “You eat. I’ll take care of him.”
He lifted Kyle into his arms, enchanted when the little guy gazed up at him with fascination. So did Macie, the half-sandwich frozen halfway to her mouth, and he rolled his eyes. “I won’t drop him, I promise.”
When she continued to stare at him with open mouthed shock, he snorted. “I took care of our son for four hours while you slept, Macie. I think I can continue my winning streak for the next fifteen minutes while you eat.”
Slowly, she nodded, looking warily at Kyle before glancing down at the grilled cheese. “I just…didn’t think that you’d want to take care of him. He can be a handful.”
Edward pulled out a stool and sat down, bouncing Kyle in his arms. The little guy was starting to get tired and squawked in protest. Edward patted his back and kept bouncing. Thankfully, that was all Kyle needed at the moment. He settled down while staring up at Edward, almost as if he weren’t sure if he approved of this change in the person holding him.
“Eat,” Edward ordered, nodding his head towards the food. “And then we’ll talk.”
Talk? Flashes of his parents’ conversations came to mind. They never “talked”. They either yelled or lobbed snarky comments at each other.
But as Edward sat beside Macie, the only conversation he wanted to have with her was how he could make her life better. How he could make her world whole again. Looking down at the baby in his arms, his son, Edward also wanted to talk about how he could see more of his son.
“What are we going to discuss?” she asked, then took a bite. “Oh, this is good!” she breathed, closing her eyes as she slowly chewed. “So good! This is the best meal I’ve had in…I don’t know how many hours.”
Edward suspected that it had been the only meal she’d had in too many hours, but kept that suspicion to himself.
“So, what’s next?” he asked, realizing he needed to know her thoughts on the future before he could start making his own plans.
She shrugged. “Right now, I just need a place to hide out.” She set the half-eaten sandwich down on the plate and wiped her fingers on a napkin. “After that, I…don’t know yet.” She sighed, her shoulders drooping. “I have friends. I can go to them, but I can only stay with them for a few days.” She looked at Kyle, reaching out to touch his hand. “And this little guy needs his routine.”
“Stay here,” he offered, unaware that his tone came out as more of a command.
She snorted. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?”
Macie shifted slightly on the kitchen stool and Edward felt a familiar jolt of lust. He was relieved that he was sitting down and holding Kyle. Otherwise, he might have pulled her into his arms.
Just as he’d done so many times over that weekend they’d shared together a year ago.
“That’s probably not a good idea,” she said, amusement shining in her eyes. “Because I don’t think I’m ready for another child quite yet.”
Macie pregnant?
The tantalizing thought hit him like a sledgehammer and he wasn’t sure where it had come from. He’d vowed never to have children. He didn’t need an heir. He’d resigned himself to allowing a distant cousin to take on the title. After enduring the misery of being raised as the future Duke of Finhearst, he’d never wanted to put that hell on his own child.
Edward looked down at Kyle, still working to process the fact that he had a son. So, it was probably too soon, and too tempting, to contemplate a pregnant Macie.
“This is the future Duke of Finhearst,” he announced. Then something else occurred to him. “Actually, Kyle is the Marquis of Devonham right now. He inherited that title at the moment of his birth.”
Macie straightened. “I’m sorry…but what?”
Edward chuckled. “You Americans,” he muttered, looking down at Kyle. “So disdainful of titles.” He looked at her again. “And yet, there’s nothing to be done about it. Our son is the future Duke of Finhearst. He’s also Lord Henderson, Marquis of-”
“Stop!” Macie gasped, holding up her hand. “Don’t!” She rubbed her forehead, obviously overwhelmed. “That’s not fair. He’s just a baby. He’s too small for titles.”
Edward shrugged. “It doesn’t work that way, love,” he told her gently. “Titles are conveyed at birth. This little guy,” he said, lifting Kyle slightly and noting that he was sound asleep now, “is an aristocrat.”
“He’s my son!” she hissed, trying to keep her voice down so she didn’t wake Kyle, who was dozing off against Edward’s chest.
Edward could see that the news was riling her, so he backed off. “He’s still the same baby that he was five minutes ago, Macie. Nothing has changed. He’s still our son.” He nodded towards the sandwich again. “I suspect that you need to eat more if you’re nursing. Why don’t you finish that and we’ll talk about something else, okay?”
Macie glared at him, irritated that he was putting such a heavy burden on a baby that didn’t even know how to eat solid food yet. But he was right. She needed to eat. She hadn’t had food in over twenty-four hours because she’d been afraid to use her credit cards, and only had a limited amount of cash.
So she finished off the sandwich, then took the plate to the sink.
“What do you want to do now, Macie?” he asked.
Sleep popped into her mind. But Macie didn’t have time to sleep. She needed to figure out her next move.
She turned and leaned against the counter by the sink, gripping the edge tightly. “Would you mind if I stayed for a few days? Just until I can figure out where to go next?”
His curious gaze turned firm. “Macie, you will stay here for longer than a few days. I won’t allow you to…” he paused when she glared at him, amusement curling his lips. “Let me rephrase. I don’t want you traipsing around Europe running from a gang of thugs. You may stay here as long as you like.”
Macie heard those words, her heart thudding against her ribs. Why was the possibility of staying here with Edward so enticing and yet, so terrifying?
“But what are your plans with your job?”
She snorted. “I don’t think I have a job any longer. I’m pretty sure my boss fired me after I didn’t show up for work for the past three days.”
“You didn’t call in and tell Henry that you weren’t feeling well?”
“I don’t know who at Linx is involved in the shipments, Edward. I don’t know who I can trust so I didn’t speak to anyone. Not until I know what is going on and who is involved.”
Edward moved closer, protecting Kyle in his arms but lowering his head so that he could look directly into her eyes. “You can trust me,” he told her with absolute finality. “You should trust me, Macie. I am not involved in this mess. And I will help you find out who is.”
Macie swallowed hard, wanting to believe him. “But…Linx has experienced shocking growth over the past twelve months. I joined Linx because of the challenge you offered and the growth potential.” She bit her lip, hesitating. Then decided to keep going. “I joined because you believed in me, Edward. After Astra married Antonio, I didn’t know what I was going to do. Then you offered me a new challenge, something that would use my current skills, but also push me to learn more.” She sighed and the sound was filled with worry. “I knew there was something special about you. Not only did you believe in how I could help, but you gave me the freedom to develop programs that would make your airline more efficient.”
“You are an asset to our company, Macie,” he said sincerely. “We could not have expanded so quickly without your insight. The fact that I’ve doubled your salary, as well as the enormous bonuses I’ve authorized, should indicate how much I appreciate your efforts.”
Macie blinked. “What salary increases?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. “And I haven’t received any bonuses. In fact, Henry announced to all of the executive staff that you authorize bonuses only for the lower level employees.” She swallowed, staring into his shocked eyes. “I actually approved of that. Economically, the hourly employees are more significant consumers. If I were to receive a bonus, I’d just shove everything into my investment accounts.”
He nodded, anger shimmering from his eyes. “I agree with you. The hourly employees receive bonuses and immediately go out and buy products. Trickledown economics has been disproved over and over again. Which is why I don’t authorize bonuses to the executives. Normally. But your contribution, the program you developed, was instrumental in our growth. The savings in fuel costs alone meant that you earned a bonus several times over. And I personally authorized a bonus to you just two months ago.”
They both looked down at Kyle who was sleeping soundly, his little mouth forming a moue as he dreamed about…whatever infants dreamed about.
Edward looked up at her. “You didn’t get your bonus.”
It wasn’t a question. But Macie still shook her head. “Nope. I haven’t received a bonus.”
He walked away, still bouncing Kyle gently, thinking through this newest piece of information.
“I can create a bed for him with a couple pillows,” Macie offered, bringing his attention back to the present.
Edward looked down at the sleeping bundle in his arms, then shook his head. “If you don’t mind, I’m really enjoying holding him.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “Plus, I feel like I need to make up for lost time.”
Macie swallowed painfully, regretting her decision not to tell Edward that she was pregnant.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I should have told you about Kyle.”
He turned, still bouncing Kyle lightly. “Why didn’t you? We didn’t leave on bad terms.” He paused, looking down at Kyle. “Did I give you the impression that I didn’t want our relationship to continue?”
“Yes,” Macie replied. “You left me with a note that explained that you had a meeting on Monday morning.” She looked directly at him. “I never heard from you again. So yes, I took that as a message that we were done.”
She noticed the muscles clenching in his jaw and wondered about that. But not for long.
“I was wrong,” he admitted. “I didn’t think you wanted to see me again. You never called either, so I took that as a message that you only wanted that one weekend with me.”
She grimaced, looking down at her interlaced fingers for a long moment. Then she sighed, nodding before lifting her head to look at him again. “We both messed up. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too,” he replied.
She gave him a half grin. “Where do we go now?”
He looked down at Kyle, then at Macie. “Why don’t we take it one day at a time?”
Macie considered that for a moment, then shook her head. “No, I can’t do that. I need to make a plan. I have to keep Kyle safe.”
Edward nodded his agreement. “That’s my priority as well. But also, I want to keep you safe.”
“So, you’re going into hiding with us?”
He chuckled. “I was thinking along the lines of something more proactive.”